Man Utd: Redkanpp VAR penalty call wrong

Manchester United were wrongfully denied a penalty in the second half of their 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace, says Jamie Redknapp.

The Lowdown: Palace point

Erik ten Hag’s side were forced to settle for a frustrating point in their midweek Premier League clash at Selhurst Park after an outrageous Michael Olise free-kick in added time cancelled out Bruno Fernandes’ first-half opener.

The point took the Red Devils above Newcastle United, while had they held on for all three, it would’ve seen them jump up to second and only six points behind Arsenal, who they play on Sunday.

To add salt to the wounds, United were denied a penalty after a coming-together between Scott McTominay and Chris Richards with the score at 1-0.

The Latest: Redknapp’s reaction

Speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports following the game, Redknapp couldn’t believe that VAR had not sent referee Robert Jones to the monitor after he originally waved significant United complaints away.

He said: “He’s chopped it away from his right foot, it’s a lovely touch, you can tell by the reaction of McTominay as well.

“What I don’t understand [is] sometimes there’ll be something that’s quite innocuous and VAR will look at it for 5-10 minutes, but something that is actually so clear and obvious and so vitally important for a team, why they just didn’t spend a little bit more time?”

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MUFC fans, do you remember what year Cristiano Ronaldo signed the first time?

The Verdict: VAR mistake

In real-time, it looked as though McTominay was fouled by Richards, and reviewing the replays, it is very difficult to make any case for it not to have been awarded as a penalty.

There seems to be no contact with the ball from Richards at all, with a tiny nick the most you can argue, but what can’t be debated is how the defender’s right leg comes across and trips the Scotsman, who had knocked the ball away from the Palace man.

The decision seriously came back to haunt Ten Hag’s side, who were denied the opportunity to all but kill the game with just over 15 minutes to go.

Instead, they’ve been left feeling deflated ahead of a huge match-up for United’s title credentials against Arsenal now being entered into with a morale-damaging result just days before.